Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
I close my eyes and run my fingers down a scar on my shoulder. I remember this one vividly. I was ten years old. Dad had me doing dishes in the kitchen even though we had staff for that. He said it made me stronger. I never saw my brothers do any cleaning, but that was fine. It was my life. Except that day, I was paying more attention to a little TV one of the staff members had in the corner of the room and I didn’t notice a splash of water on the floor. I slipped, stumbled, and caught myself on the counter. But the plates I was carrying shattered all over, little colored shards scattering at my feet.
The room was quiet after that. I’ll never forget the way Shane sauntered over, clucking his tongue and shaking his head. “You clumsy idiot,” he said, almost like he felt sorry for me. But I knew better. I wasn’t surprised when he slapped me across the face. I barely reacted when he pushed me to the floor.
It was the knife that made me scream. My brothers liked their punishments. My father most of all. But they rarely used anything sharp.
“Don’t be such a fucking baby, Caroline. You think Dad’s going to let me go halfway with this one?” He clamped one big, meaty hand over my mouth. “God, you can be such a wuss.”
I pleaded and struggled, but Shane’s always been strong. He held me down and jabbed the tip into my shoulder. I screamed in agony as he dragged it down, slicing open my skin. I’ll never forget the fascinated way he stared at the blood. A part of me thought he’d keep on going, keep on slicing until I was carved open, but he stopped himself and pulled back with a frown. I was crying, whimpering, writhing on the floor, one hand clamped over the wound to try to make the bleeding stop.
“Such a fucking baby,” he muttered as he tossed the bloody knife into the sink. “Clean this shit up.”
The scar’s still there. Faded now, but I can feel it under my fingers. Straight and even. Shane always was good with a blade.
When I climb out of the pool, Finn’s sitting on the bench with his back to the house. He looks at me curiously. I stare back, my spine itching like spiders are crawling down my shirt.
“My mother invited us to dinner tomorrow night,” he says simply like this is a totally normal conversation. He doesn’t ask why I’ve been lying down there in the pool for the last hour. Which is fine by me.
I wipe my face and look away. My cheeks are wet with tears. “That’s fine. I can do that.”
“My whole family will be there.”
“That’s good, right? I mean, we have to put on a show.”
“Make them think we’re happily married,” he agrees, his expression cold and uncaring.
“Anything else you need?”
He shakes his head slowly. “Nothing for now.” His eyes stray to the pool. “Do you miss it?”
For a second, I think he means Shane and the knife. But no, of course he means the water. “I’m looking forward to going for a swim.”
The heart of the Whelan family is a gorgeous penthouse apartment across from Central Park. It’s the sort of place that costs tens of millions at least. The interior is three floors, multiple bedrooms, beautiful old furniture, and obscenely rare art on the walls. A thick carpet swallows our footsteps and makes the sprawling place feel claustrophobic.
At least until we enter the living and dining area.
Noise and light surprise me. There’s a big table covered with food. Several people are sitting around it. I recognize Casey from our conversation. She’s leaning against a small woman with thick blonde hair and a pretty face. They’re laughing about something and the blonde woman has a little boy in her lap, maybe three years old, squirming and trying to escape. He looks like an adorable little terror.
For a second, I’m overwhelmed. There are at least ten people in here. I’m used to big families, but this is different. Dinners at my house were always quiet and tense with lots of business talk while my mother fluttered around and made sure all the boys were happy. I was usually ignored and forgotten at best. Those nights were terrible and stressful, but this place doesn’t feel that way at all. The people here seem strangely happy.
“Don’t worry, I’ll introduce you,” Finn says quietly, and I feel a sudden pulse of gratitude. I almost expected him to throw me to the wolves.
Instead, he starts with the girls at the table. The blonde is Alina, married to Seamus, and her son’s name is Niko. Casey hugs me so tight I feel like I might burst. “You were so pretty at the wedding,” she gushes.